Soul Eater: Shattered Balance
by ALostMuse
Summary: *Contains anime spoilers, you have been warned* This story takes place fifteen years after the death of the Kishen Ashura's death. Many of the characters from the anime will be returning, but they will not be the main focus. The main characters and villains will mostly be O.C.s, so if you don't like that kind of stuff you might want to leave now. All criticism is welcomed.
1. Chapter 1: Welcome to the DWMA!

Soul Eater: Shattered Balance.

Chapter 1: Welcome to the DWMA.

I suppose you're here for a story. That is what your world enjoys hearing from mine, correct? That is unless your world has moved on to some other means of entertainment. But I assume by the fact you are still reading that it's a story you seek. Well then, have I got quite the tale for you.

You may have heard of Maka Albarn, the legendary scythe wielder that saved the world from falling into madness by slaying the mighty Kishin Ashura. She was a Meister who made many friends and enemies along her journey. She was the one who's said to have ended Ashura's life with a single punch. This… is not her story.

This is the story of another generation, one fifteen years after Ashura's death. One of adventure, friendship, tragedy, and powers Beyond YOUR WILDEST-

…My apologies, I seem to have gotten carried away. But I'm sure you are growing weary of this long-winded explanation, so let's begin.

Time: Morning, 8/13/X1

Location: Nevada Desert

It was a typical day in the desert; the temperature was scorching, the wind was barely noticeable, and the sun was laughing with its creepy face that it for some reason has. Due to the vast emptiness of it, one would have very little trouble noticing the two hooded travelers trekking across.

They both wore white desert cloaks and large backpacks, but they were easily distinguishable from each other by the noticeable difference in their heights. Both were barely keeping up their pace, hunched over and dragging their feet like some sort of zombies. After a long silence between the two, the shorter one finally spoke up.

"Are we there yet?" he asked in an exhausted tone.

"I don't know, but it can't be that much farther right?" The taller one reassured.

"But we've been walking for hours, why couldn't we have taken the bus?"

"There are no buses that come all the way out here."

After a moan, the shorter one fell over.

"I'm tired, carry me…" He complained.

"Hey! Don't give up! We've come all this way, we can't give up now!" The taller exclaimed.

"But I'm too tired….."

"Aw come on, you can't…." But before she could finish her statement, she noticed something on the horizon. It was what they had wandered across the desert to find, the DWMA (Which stands for Death Weapon Meister Academy).

"There it is!"

"Where?!"

"It's just over the horizon! We're going to make it!"

"Yes! Finally!"

And with their heads held high, they both started running to the city… Unfortunately they were exhausted from the trip, and immediately collapsed after getting there.

Our heroes, ladies and gentlemen.

Fortunately for them they were quickly spotted by a citizen. Seeing their 'odd' appearances, he assumed them to be from the DWMA, and brought them to its infirmary.

After lying unconscious for an hour or so, the taller of the two woke up. She had teal eyes, olive skin, and brown hair that barely went past her shoulders. She was wearing a white t-shirt that had an image of a blue soul on it, along with long but thin pants and hiking shoes. Her cloak and backpack were lying on a table beside the bed she was on, with a glass of water as well. After taking a sip of said water, she began pondering how she got to where she was.

"Are you feeling better?"

She jumped after hearing the voice, as she had not been aware there was someone else in the room.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" The woman frantically said. She had light skin, long blond hair, and a yellow eye with the other being under an eye patch. She looked like she was in her thirties, and was wearing a nurse uniform.

"You're not in good condition to be moving around, just lie down and get re-hydrated." The woman kindly spoke.

"Are you a nurse?" The teen asked.

"No, I'm just filling in for her. My name is Marie Mjölnir." She spoke with a smile, and seemed to resonate kindness. "So what's your name, dear?"

"Oh, I'm Terry Ross. And this is my….wait, where's Moko?!" She panicked.

"Calm down, he's just sleeping in the bed beside yours."

Terry looked to her left and saw him sleeping like a baby. Moko was an odd-looking one. He was only about half Terry's height, and one would easily mistake him for a cartoon character. He had white hair that spiked upwards. He wore a metal bandana that went from his forehead around the back, with larger points on the sides that covered his ears. Due to his bandana, his face was always in shadows, with only a half eyed open ':3' expression most of the time. He had on a simple green hoodie, along with shorts and athletic wrap that went around his arms and legs, although a bit at the end would always be untucked and flowing.

"Ugh….five more minutes…" Moko moaned, rolling over and tucking further into his blanket.

"He's fine." Terry spoke, letting out a sigh of relief.

"So I assume you two are a Weapon-Meister pair?" Marie asked.

"I guess." Terry shrugged. "I've always been an odd child. I see 'Things' whenever I look at people's chests."

"So you can see souls?"

"That's what they are?"

"I see you don't know a lot about souls."

"Well, after I met Moko and learned he could transform into a weapon, I heard about some place called the 'DWMA', which can help people like me and him."

"Well aren't you the lucky one! You just so happen to be there now!" Marie spoke excitedly.

"WE'RE THERE?!" Shouted Moko, jumping out of his bed.

"Oh, NOW you wake up." Terry agitatedly said.

"I guess that explains why you crossed the desert, but you could have just taken a bus." Marie stated.

"What?!" Terry exclaimed.

"See! I told you we should have taken a bus! But _noooo_, you said there weren't any! Why did you do this! We could have died! I mean…." Moko continued complaining, hitting his fists against Terry's chest like a child.

Ignoring Moko's fists, Terry continued to question Marie. "So what did you call us earlier?"

"It's just what we call people like you and Moko." Marie said. "There are two types of students here at the DWMA, Weapons and Meisters. Weapons are people who can change into weapons, and Meisters are the ones that use those weapons. Of course not everyone can use any Weapon, they can only be used by a Meister who can share a similar or balancing 'Soul Wavelength' as them."

"Soul Wavelength?" Terry questioned.

"You're learn what that is soon enough. If you want to enroll, just go to this room." Marie handed them a slip of paper with the room number on in.

"Thank you!" Terry said, quickly bowing and rushing to the door with Moko close behind.

"Bye pirate lady!" Moko chimed on the way out.

"Try not to tire yourselves out!" Marie yelled to them.

After leaving the infirmary, the two headed to the front of the DWMA. The school consisted of a collection of large black towers and spires patterned with white lines and the occasional skull mask. The roofs of the towers were conical and bright red. Enormous candles poke out of shafts along the sides of the buildings. The Academy's most noticeable feature however, were the three large Reaper skulls lined up at the entrance, with the middle skull being the largest, and sporting three blood-red spikes going through its eye and nose holes, while the skulls on the side were smaller and had slanted eyes. In between the 'teeth' of these giant skulls were the school's main entrances. At the top of the school hover three strange black orbs.

Before the two had time to start questioning the somehow floating balls above the school, they noticed a teen. He was playing a double neck, electric lead guitar, which was painted red and white. He had tan skin, grey eyes, triangular sun glasses, and spike orange hair, with red-dyed bangs. He wore a black sleeveless shirt, with a bird image, and wore ripped jeans.

He seemed to be practicing a calm melody on his guitar. Terry found the music quite relaxing. But right as she was getting into it, he suddenly burst out into a rock piece, finishing with a strong power cord. While Terry was a bit confused by this, Moko was wildly clapping and cheering.

"Thank you! Thank you! You're too kind!" The guy yelled as if he were playing in front of a large audience, despite the fact that the only ones there were Terry and Moko. After his self-congratulations, he noticed the two. "I don't think I've seen you dudes around here before. My name's Presley, what's yours?" He asked.

"Oh, I'm Terry, and this is Moko." Terry spoke, while still a bit on edge.

"Cool Guitar!" Moko said.

"No-no-no little dude. This ain't a Guitar, this is my partner! Introduce yourself!" He yelled as he threw the guitar in the air, with it glowing and changing shape into another teen. This one had lighter skin, green eyes, and black combed hair. He wore a simple red collared shirt, along with khaki pants.

The Weapon began to introduce himself in a very low voice. "Hello, my name is-"

"This is my broham, Bass!" Presley shouted over him, with Bass simply giving a nod of his head and bowing.

"So Weapons can also be instruments?" Terry questioned.

"Weapons can be just about anything, dudette!" Presley yelled.

But before Terry could ask another question, Moko spoke up. "Shouldn't we be going somewhere?"

"Oh that's right!" Terry said, having forgotten about it. "Do you two know where this room number-"

Before she could finish asking Presley snatched the paper out of her hand, looking over it for all of one second before giving an answer. "This is the Death Room dudette!"

"The _what_ room?"

"It's Lord Death's office!"

"So he's the principal of this school?"

"Yep, the Grim Reaper himself!"

"Ok, tha-Wait, he's the actual Grim Reaper?"

Presley looked at her like she was some sort of idiot. "You never heard of him or something?"

"Yeah, but I thought it was just some kind of title!"

"Dudette, you got a LOT to learn about this place! Just go on through the front door and down the hall, you can't miss it! And hurry, you don't wanna make a bad first impression!"

"Ok, thanks!" Terry and Moko quickly ran inside, waving bye to the two performers.

They soon arrived at the door of the Death Room. Compared to the appearance of the school itself, it was rather lack luster. It was just a simple; albeit large; dual door with a skull design and the word "Death Room" in the middle of it.

"Where's the doorknob? How do we-"Moko began to question, before being interrupted by a booming, yet gentle voice.

"Come in"

Both Terry and Moko were put a bit on edge by the sudden response.

"Are you ready Moko?" Terry asked.

"I was born ready!" Moko replied, with a determined grin on his face.

And so, the two pressed their hands to the door and pushed, entering into the large light on the other side.


	2. Chapter 2: Kishin Egg Hunt

Soul Eater: Shattered Balance.

Chapter 2: Kishin Egg Hunt.

While Terry and Moko didn't know what to expect from a 'Death Room', this was certainly not it. Even though on the outside the door was firmly placed on a wall, from the inside the door seemed to be standing on its own with no wall behind it. Ahead was a tunnel of guillotines, which while not comforting, did not scare them as it contrasted with the rest of the room. The room was dome-shaped and domed ceilinged with a bright blue sky filled with white clouds. The clouds floated around as if the ceiling is an actual sky, sometimes with the clouds drifting along the ground. The main part of the room was a large round platform with some stairs leading up to it. At the top of the dome, small windows showed the scenery outside. Around the platform was a vast desert-like expanse, which looked like it stretched on for eternity. The entire ground around the platform was filled with strange cross-like foundations rising from the ground.

However, the strangest thing to Terry about the room was the creature standing in the center of it. She thought Moko looked weird, but this _thing _was so abnormal she had trouble convincing herself it was there. It was wearing a pitch black jagged (yet symmetrical) cloak, with spikes at the shoulder area. It seemed to curve going down, ending with a spiked stand around its bottom. There was also a piece of cloth behind it which resembled a tail. The cloak also covered its head, with a lightning shaped spike going up and backwards. The only real feature it had was a circular mask. This mask had three spikes going downwards, resembling a skull; and three circular holes, two where each eye would be and one where the nose would be.

"Well don't be shy, come on over!" Its voice caught Terry off guard, sounding very high pitched and; for lack of a better term; cartoonish. Despite this she walked forward as it said, Moko and her standing with it on the platform.

"So are you…" Terry was unable to complete her question, whether it was out of fear or confusion she did not know.

"…the Grim Reaper?" Moko said, picking up on Terry's intended question.

"Indeed I am, but you may refer to me as Lord Death." The creature responded.

Terry didn't know how she was supposed to react to this, but she gathered her thoughts and stood straight.

"Lord Death, my name is Teresa Ross, and I wish to enroll!" Terry shouted, trying hiding her uneasiness.

"Me too!" Moko chimed in, imitating Terry's posture.

"So I've heard." Lord Death responded, noticing Terry's discomfort. "Do I frighten you?"

"Well… no, you just look rather odd to me." Terry explained.

"Good! Now could you give me a second?" Death asked, turning around. He then proceeded to lift his mask and breathe deeply. Terry didn't get a very good look at his face, but she was able to see he looked human for the most part, which put her at ease. The only distinguishing feature she was able to notice was that he had black hair with three lines going around it. "My apologies, that voice does a number on my throat." He stated, his voice now sounding like a human's.

"That wasn't your real voice?" Terry questioned.

"No, it's simply a voice I use with newcomers so I don't frighten them off." Death stated. "Now, let's discuss the matter of your enrollment test!"

"There's a test?" Moko questioned.

"Of course there's a test! We can't just let anyone into this school after all!" Death exclaimed. "You will need to hunt down a Kishin Egg."

"A _what_ egg?" Terry asked.

"My word, you really are new to this." Death said. "Very well, I'll just have to enlighten you. Liz! Patty!"

With all that was going on, neither Terry nor Moko realized that there were two women sitting at the table behind Lord Death. They looked to be in their mid-twenties, both having blue eyes and Caucasian skin. They wore tuxedos and both had a cowboy hat on. One could easily see they were sisters; even though the one on the left was taller and had long, light brown hair; while the one on the right was shorter and had short, blonde hair.

While the two looked to be busy, anyone looking for more than two seconds would realize that they were goofing off. The taller one was applying some form of nail polish, while the shorter one was building a paper craft. When Lord Death called their names they jumped up (obviously having been zoned out) and responded.

"What is it?" They said in unison.

"What do you think it is? Get the diagram out!" Lord Death angrily responded, having just realized they were being lazy on the job. They both scurried to get what he requested, as to not agitate him any further. The shorter one, Patty, pulled out an easel, with the taller one, Liz, putting said diagram on it. The diagram seemed to be a flow chart, with pictures of differently colors circles that had squiggly lines coming out of the top of them. Death picked up a pointing rod and pointed at the orb in the beginning of the chart, which was colored blue.

"This is a human soul." Death explained. "While the exact shape and details of a soul may vary from person to person, they generally look this way. However; if a human ever consumes the soul of another human, their soul…" He then pointed at a soul to the right of it, which was colored red with dark red spots around its sides that resembled scabs. "…will change into this; called a Kishin Egg. It's not only the soul that changes however; their body also takes a new form. It becomes more and more monstrous with every soul they devour, until they change again." He pointed to the final soul along the line, which looked the same except for being a brighter shade of red. "This is the soul of a Kishin, a demon so powerful it could stand to fight even me. At this stage there is no way to turn back, and they lose themselves to madness. This is where you come in." He then pointed to a line below the other. "Terry, your job is to use your partner Moko to hunt down these Kishin Eggs before they can get that powerful. You must feed ninety nine Kishin Egg souls to your partner, and then one witch soul. This will change Moko into a Death Scythe."

"I'll become a scythe?" Moko asked.

"No no no, you will keep the same weapon form you have always had; Death Scythe is just the name of the rank. Once you are a Death Scythe, you will gain incredible strength and magical abilities. You will be powerful enough to be useable by me." Death clarified.

"Wait, so we won't be partners then?" Terry questioned.

"We'll tend to that matter when we get there. For now, you two just need to focus on getting that Kishin Egg!" Death encouragingly shouted, handing them a sheet of paper with the Kishin Egg's location written on it.

"Understood! We'll return victorious!" Terry exclaimed, taking the paper and running to the door.

"Thank you Grimmy!" Moko shouted, following closely behind Terry.

As they left the room Lord Death looked at the door, pondering something. "That weapon..."

"His soul was odd to say the least." Liz said.

"I'm not talking about his soul Liz." Lord Death said. "I was referring to his appearance. He was so… Symmetrical!"

"Even after becoming the Grim Reaper you still haven't changed a bit." Liz sighed, while Patty was laughing in the background.

Time: Midday

Location: Undisclosed Beach

The two arrived at the written location, which was an empty beach just at the bottom of a large cliff.

"Where's the Key-Chin Egg?" Moko asked.

"It's called a Kishin Egg Moko, not a key-chin egg." Terry responded. "As for its location, Lord Death said it was around here, we should search different sides of the beach. Don't go too far though, I can't fight without you."

"Right!" Moko shouted, standing at attention and saluting Terry.

The two then went in different directions along the beach. Moko noticed a small alcove in the side of the cliff. He walked into it to see if the Kishin Egg was hiding there. Moko looked around the alcove, but there were no signs of it. Before he left however, he saw a snake emerge from the sand.

"Cool! A snake!" Moko exclaimed, walking up to it. The snake was black, with yellow arrows around its body. But before Moko was able to question why, his head suddenly began to hurt. He quickly hunched over, placing his hand over his head. During this the snake passed by him and headed out of the alcove. Oddly enough, Moko's headache suddenly disappeared as soon as the snake left.

"What just happened?" Moko moaned, his hand still over his forehead. Before questioning it very much, he heard a crash outside.

During the time Moko was exploring the alcove, Terry was looking at the ocean. She had never been to the sea before, so it was all very interesting to her. She quickly shook her head.

"You'll have plenty of time to watch the ocean later, right now you need to find that Kishin Egg!" She said to herself. But not soon after clearing her mind she began to sense something. Quickly looking up she saw the outline of something jumping off the cliff. Seeing this she ran to the side to avoid being landed on.

The creature landed with a large crash, kicking up sand everywhere. Terry looked into the sand, seeing a soul that looked exactly like what Lord Death showed them a Kishin Egg's would. As the sand settled, she got a better look at the beast. It had a shape like a gorilla, with huge metal gloves and glowing red eyes. It wasn't wearing anything outside of some ripped pants.

"Hello there little one…" It said, with an inhuman smile growing across its face. "Your soul looks delicious…"

"MOKO!" Terry screamed out, running towards his direction.

"Where do you think you're going?" The creature asked, starting to chase after her.

"Did you find it?!" Moko yelled, sticking his head out of the alcove.

"What gave it away?!" Terry shouted, the creature starting to catch up to her. She extended her hand to Moko, with Moko grabbing it. He then quickly started to glow and change shape.

"You're mi-"The creature was cut off (both metaphorically and literally) by a slash across his chest. He let out a yell, jumping back. "What the hell?"

Terry was now wielding Moko in his weapon form. Moko was a large boomerang shaped blade, with a handle grips on one of the edges and the middle of the inside part of the blade. The blade itself was black and green, with the two colors separated by a zig-zagged line going along it.

"Kishin Egg, in the name of Lord Death…" Terry started stating, standing tall and holding Moko firmly with both hands,"…Your soul is mine!"

"Why you lit-"The Kishin Egg began to respond, being interrupted yet again by Moko being thrown at him, slashing him across his legs before being grabbed by Terry again and slashing up the Kishin Egg's body. He tried to get some distance in between him and the Weapon Meister pair, but didn't get far before his legs gave out under him from the previous slash. Terry threw Moko at him yet again, but he narrowly dodged it by rolling to the side. The Kishin Egg then started lifting itself up by its arms and attempted once again to speak.

"That's it! I'm going to eat y-"Unsurprisingly, he was cut off yet again; this time not by a slash from the Weapon, but by a simply punch to the face from Terry. Quickly after the attack, Terry did a backflip to get out of the Kishin Egg's range of attack. Rather than launching a counterattack, he simply started laughing.

"HA! IS THAT THE BEST YOU CA- why can't I feel my everything?" the Kishin Egg looked down to see his head had been severed from his body, courtesy of Moko flying through him and back into Terry's hands. A simple 'Oh' was the last thing the creature was able to say before his body turned to ash and blew away, leaving only his gloves and his soul behind.

Terry tossed Moko into the air with him transforming back into human form and landing in front of the Kishin Egg's soul. Terry then sat down and started catching her breath. Moko pick up the soul and walked back to Terry.

"So now what do we do with it?" Moko asked Terry.

"Give me a second Moko." Terry muttered as Moko helped her up. After getting on her feet she responded. "Lord Death left instructions of what to do on the back of the paper he gave us, but they don't make sense…"

"Let me see it!" Moko responded. Terry handed him the paper of the Kishin Egg's location and Moko flipped it over. All that was written on it was the phrase "42-42-564 whenever you want to knock on Death's door", with a picture of a mirror in the background.

"I have an idea!" Moko exclaimed, walking over and picking up one of the Creature's Gloves. He then breathed on it; fogging up the reflective surface; and used his finger to write 42-42-564 on it.

"I really don't think that will work Moko." Terry stated.

"Just give it a second!" Moko said, puffing his cheeks in a pout.

Before Terry got the chance to suggest another course of action the glove started glowing. Suddenly the surface showed the Death Room, as if it were a window. They saw Patty sleeping at the table right in front of it, with Lord Death and Liz arguing about something in the background.

"I told you it would work!" Moko said.

Patty lifted her head up lazily and turned to them. "Hey Kidd, the new people are reporting in." she said after a yawn.

Lord Death quickly turned to Patty. "How many times have I told you not to call me that anymore!" he scolded, while walking to the screen. "So how did the mission go Terry?" He asked, his voice changing from angry to kind in a millisecond.

"We encountered the Kishin Egg right were you said it would be Lord Death. We recovered its soul successfully." Terry explained, standing at attention.

"Excellent! I knew you had what it takes!" Lord Death said in a very happy tone. "So has Moko eaten its soul yet?"

"Well, no." Terry answered.

"Well go ahead now!" Lord Death told them.

Terry looked down at Moko, who was chewing on the soul like a dog would with a squeaky toy.

"No no no, you're supposed to swallow it!" Lord Death explained to him.

"Oh." Moko then swallowed the soul whole. Despite its large size, it was easy to swallow. Moko then let out a small burp and jumped back onto Terry's head.

"Very good. Come back to the DWMA, we have your room prepared. I have high hopes for you two!" Lord Death told them.

"Thank you Lord Death, we'll be there by tonight!" Terry said, bowing to the screen as it cut out.

And so ends our heroes' first mission. What new adventures lie ahead? I could just tell you here and now, but where would be the fun in that? Come back around soon. My world will always have new stories for yours.


	3. Chapter 3: First Day

Soul Eater: Shattered Balance.

Chapter 3: Clyde, Jasmine, and Ariel's First Day.

Oh hello, I didn't hear you come in. It's nice to see you again. So were did we leave off in our story? Ah yes, Terry and Moko's first day at the DWMA. However, we won't be following them today. Settle down now, they'll still be there, we'll simply be seeing this new day through another person's eyes. Now then, let's begin.

Time: Morning: 8/13/X1

Location: Death City, Apartment Complex.

The time was 6:30 AM, and the place was an apartment. Its owner was a tall and tan skinned teen, with black-combed hair and orange eyes. The teen was woken up by his alarm. He lazily got up and changed from his undershirt and boxers into his day clothes, which were a black shirt, a red scarf, black fingerless gloves, and jeans. He walked out of his room and into the small hall that connected the other rooms of the apartment. It wasn't that grand of an apartment, only having two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a small kitchen in the living room. Still, it was what he called home.

He went into his sister's room, turning on the lights. While the younger sister on the top bunk started groaning, the one on the bottom bunk continued sleeping.

"Jasmine! Ariel! It's time to wake up!" He shouted, sternly but still calm.

The sister on the bottom bunk (Jasmine) got out from under her covers. She had white hair tied in buns and having bangs over the sides of her face. Her eyes and skin were the same color as her brother's. She was wearing bunny hood pajamas.

"Is it morning already Clyde?" Jasmine yawned, sitting up and wiping her eyes.

"Indeed it is." Clyde said, helping her get out of bed. "Ariel! Get up!" He shouted again after seeing that Ariel was still in her bed.

"Five more minutes…" Ariel moaned.

"No, you need to get up now. After all, the early bird gets the worm." Clyde stated.

"Why would I even want a worm?" Ariel questioned as she climbed down the latter. She had black hair in a ponytail and blue eyes, with skin color similar to her brother's. Her pajamas were a lot simpler than her sister's, being a two-piece.

Clyde left them to get dressed, heading into the 'Kitchen' and getting out plates for breakfast. Ariel walked and sat down at the table while he was making the traditional morning eggs and bacon, wearing a very punk looking outfit with a skull pin on the right side of her hair. As soon as she sat at the table she put her head down. A couple minutes later Jasmine came out wearing a large skirt and a long sleeved shirt, with a soul pin on the left side of her hair.

"Bon Appétit!" Clyde said as he brought the food out to the table.

"I'm awake!" Ariel franticly shouted; waking herself up as Clyde gave her breakfast.

"Nobody said you weren't." Jasmine stated, her brother giving her share.

"…I was just making sure you knew." Ariel specified, starting to eat her meal.

After finishing they all headed to the DWMA, stopping right in front of the stairs to it. The stairway up to the DWMA was infamously long, supposedly to help the students build better leg muscles.

"We don't really have to climb up these do we?" Jasmine asked.

"We do indeed," Clyde answered.

"You've gotta be kidding me! Isn't there an easily way up?" Ariel complained.

"No there's not. So we had better get moving, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step after all!" Clyde stated in an effort to encourage his sisters.

Clyde had been in the DWMA before, waiting to enroll until his sisters were ready. Due to this he had no trouble making it up the steps. His sisters however were not as capable, causing them to take a lot longer to make their way to the top. The two were exhausted after the climb, Clyde only now giving them the water bottles they brought. After taking a minute to rest they noticed that no one was around.

"Where is everyone?" questioned Jasmine.

"I thought you said the school started at 7:30." Ariel said to Clyde.

"No, I said I wanted us to be here at 7:30, school doesn't start until 8:30." Clyde responded.

"Then why are we here this early?!" Ariel yelled.

"Trust me, on the first day it gets very hectic." Clyde answered.

They made their way to the bulletin board placed in front of the school to see their homeroom. They all had the same homeroom teacher; Stein. As Clyde saw their teacher's name he got a smile.

"What is it?" Jasmine questioned.

"You'll see when class starts." Clyde told her.

The three made their way to the classroom. It was unlocked and the lights were on, but there was no one there. They took their assigned seats and relaxed. Clyde was helping Jasmine organize her folders, while Ariel was looking around at the different names on the desks.

"Clyde, what kind of a name is 'Mokoloko Walker'?" Ariel asked, pointing to the desk in front of hers.

Before Clyde could respond the first bell rang, and students started coming into the room. While most of them Clyde couldn't recognize he did see two he knew; Presley and Bass. While most people knew who the two were, few knew them personally like Clyde did. What was odd to him is that they were with two people, a girl in long sleeved shirt and pants who had some sort of cartoon looking character on her shoulders. The two new students took a seat in front of him. Reading the nametags on their desks he saw that the little one was Mokoloko and the other one was Teresa.

"Hello there, I'm Clyde." Clyde said to her, reaching his hand out to shake hers.

"Oh- my name's Terry." The girl said, shaking his hand. She was clearly a shy one, trembling a bit and keeping her head down. "I'm… new to Death City, do you know what this Stein guy is like?"

"I do."

"He's not very… strange, is he?"

"That depends on your definition of strange."

The room suddenly went quiet at the sound of something loudly rolling down the hall. While most students were confused, Clyde simply sat there with a small grin. The sound kept getting loader and loader until they saw someone dash into the room, riding in a rolling chair heading backwards. As it passed through the door the chair flipped, tripping over the door threshold.

The man had stiches all over not only his body, but his clothes as well. This however was not the most shocking part of his appearance. That would be the giant screw that went through his head. Other than that he looked to be in his early forties, with grey skin and hair, also wearing glasses and smoking a cigarette.

He quickly got up and back into the chair. "Dammit, it still doesn't feel right…" The man stated as he fiddled with his screw. "That should do it. Alright, I'm going to try that again!" He calmly exclaimed as he got out of his wheelie chair and walked back out the classroom door. The class was still quiet as the chair came rolling down the hall again, still falling over at the door entrance. The room was filled with confused expressions.

"Ok then, forget about the entrance." The man said, getting the chair back up and rolling to the front of the room. "I am Professor Stein; I'll be your homeroom teacher for this year."

Terry raised her hand.

"Do you have a question?" Stein asked her.

She nodded her head.

"Is it about my appearance?"

She nodded again.

"Good, it usually takes until the second week for students to ask me about it." He said, calmly lighting his cigarette. "It's quite simple really. I am a scientist. My job is to find out as much knowledge as I can in life. Everything in the world is a specimen to be experimented on, which includes myself."

His explanation did little to calm the student's nerves. Stein simply ignored this and continued with his previous topic.

"You'll find your class schedules underneath your desks." He went on to explain. "You will have four classes each day. This is your first: Soul Resonance. Here you will learn about the soul and abilities that only a Weapon and a Meister can perform. Your other classes are as follows: Combat Training, DWMA History, and Creature Studies."

The ringing of the first bell interrupted Stein, signaling the release of the students. "One more thing, any of Sid's students will need to attend Spirit's class until he returns." Stein quickly added. After that final explanation he kicked off his desk and rolled back out the hallway (Still falling over at the door).

Clyde and his sisters left the room along with the crowd of students. The three were about to head to their next class when Clyde noticed Terry and Mokoloko standing in the middle of the hallway, both gazing at their class schedules confused. Remembering the two were new to the school Clyde offered to help them, seeing that they had the same classes as him and his sisters. The walk there was starting to get awkward, as both parties were in silence.

"So Miss Teresa, if you don't mind me asking, where are you from?" Jasmine asked in an attempt to start a conversation.

"You don't have to be so formal, just call me Terry." She responded. "I'm from California."

"Thank you Miss- I mean Terry." Jasmine said, correcting herself. "So is Moko from Lassen too?"

"No, but I met him there." Terry stated.

"Yep! And we've been best buddies ever since!" Moko chimed in.

"So where are you from then?" Ariel asked Moko.

"Don't know." Moko answered in a relaxed tone.

"What do you mean you don't know?!" Ariel probed.

"I mean I don't know. I can't make it any simpler." Moko drearily responded.

"And this doesn't bother you?" Clyde questioned, taking interest in the conversation.

"Not really. All I can remember is wandering through the desert and being found by Terry." Moko responded. "That's as far back as it goes, and that's as far back as it needs to be."

"Quite the peculiar Weapon partner you have Terry." Clyde said.

"Yeah… he's the whole reason I enrolled here." Terry replied.

By the time their conversation reached its end they had gotten to the location of their next class. The class was under the name Combat Training, and took place in the back courtyard. They seemed to have arrived early, since no other students were there yet. The only person there was an adult with a wooden sword in his hand, whom they assumed to be their teacher. He had Rust-brown eyes, fair skin, and long grey hair. He wore a white collared shirt with black pants, and had a jacket over his shoulders as if it were a cape.

"Excuse me." Clyde said to get his attention.

"Take a seat." The man responded.

Clyde quickly glanced around the courtyard to try to find some sort of chair, but there were none. "Where?" He asked.

"Anywhere will do, just try to form a semicircle." He stated, with the five students doing just that. As the minutes passed more students started to arrive, sitting down as they did. They started quietly chatting among themselves, before the teacher finally turned around and spoke.

"You." He said, pointing at Terry. "What do you see around you?"

"Umm… a courtyard?" She responded hesitantly.

"Wrong." He said, sternly yet soft. "This is your battlefield. One must always be prepared for ambush. You must always be on guard, taking your surroundings into consideration." He continued to say as he walked over to her. "Every building, every window, and every tile beneath your feet you must take into consideration. Now tell me…" He stood beside her, resting a hand on her shoulder. "…What do you see?"

Terry looked around while trying to think of what answer he would want. The courtyard was wide open, with brick tiles and not much else besides a large candlestick in the middle. She pointed to the side of the candle hidden from the school window's view. "A cover point?" She said under her breath, hoping she chose the right answer.

The teacher's stature did not change, aside for a barely noticeable sigh. "You assume the enemy is inside the building. This would be an unlikely tactic, as the task of getting inside unseen would be worth." He responded.

As he was heading away Terry raised her voice in an attempt to justify her answer. "Unless they were sending a threat! Attacking from within would not only show that they are capable of infiltrating the school, but also allow them to blend in with the crowd and escape during the initial panic!" She was embarrassed for debating this, clearly seen by her tone and red face.

The teacher smiled. "Very good, take this." He said, handing her a piece of hard candy and walking back to the front of the students. Rather than question why a teacher of teenagers would still give out candy, she simply let out a sigh of relief. "You all may address me as Mifune. I'm your Combat instructor for this year."

Before he could cover more about his class the lunch bell rung. He looked at a schedule confused while the students left.

"Are the classes always this short?" Ariel questioned.

"Not at all. There is probably some sort of school meeting today." Clyde answered.

"So where do we go for lunch?" Terry asked Clyde.

"The school's lunch room is the first door on the west wing of the school and lasts approximately an hour." Clyde explained. "For the first week all students are required to eat lunch on the premises, but after that students are allowed to leave and eat anywhere they want, as long as they return to classes on time. They also supply free food to students for the first week, since student budgets haven't been issued yet."

"We get budgets?"

"Indeed. Each week students are given a set amount of money from the school to pay for their daily expenses. How much you get is determined by how long you've been with the DWMA and your grades and behavior."

Clyde continued explaining the workings of the DWMA to Terry over lunch, with Moko, Ariel, and Jasmine looking at the different students. Around halfway through lunch the five got up to make their way to the next class. As they passed through the front courtyard they saw Presley and Bass practicing some kind of fight song. As they got closer they noticed students starting to circle around two Weapon-Meister pairs.

"What's going on?" Jasmine questioned.

"Looks like a fight's about to break out." Clyde responded.

"A fight?! Should we inform a teacher?!" Terry asked in a panic.

"No, fights are allowed in-between classes here, so long as they wait until the supervisor arrives." Clyde answered. "And here she comes."

Something appeared to be approaching from the sky above, leaving a smoke trail in the air. It moved calmly at first, but as it approached a landing it started to lose control and crashed in-between the two students. It seemed to be a teen girl with a broomstick. She had brown hair in a short bob haircut, and also had red eyes and fair skin. She wore a black collared T-shirt with a dull light green skirt and gloves. She also had a witch's hat on, which seemed to have a frog face on the front.

The girl quickly got up and wiped the dirt off of. "Stupid wind, always messing up my landings!" She complained. After noticing that everyone's attention was on her, she stood straight and put on a stern expression. "The fight supervisor, Angela, has arrived. Who was it that requested a fight?"

"Can you seriously not figure that out yourself?"

Clyde instantly recognized the voice. Not that it was a hard voice to recognize mind you; being so pompous and having a hint of a New Yorker accent. While he knew who it was by that alone, he still had to see it with his own eyes. He pushed to the front of the crowd and was not shocked by who he saw. The Meister was slightly below average height, having somewhat pale skin with brown eyes and dirty blonde hair tied in a warrior's tail style. She wore black gloves, boots, and a black jacket with a sleeveless shirt and skirt underneath. Her Weapon partner was on the tall side, with neatly combed black hair, fair skin, and black eyes. He was wearing a white tuxedo and bowtie, with some kind of family ring on his left hand.

Their names were known around the school: Alice Smith and Constance Covington. They were so well known due to their polar opposite personalities. While Alice behaves as what one would assume a person constantly getting in fights would, Constance was extremely sophisticated and polite. Clyde didn't recognize who they were fighting though. The Meister just had on basic punk clothing, while the Weapon was already in his (or her) weapon form, which was a switchblade.

After seeing who they were Angela seemed very irritated. "Seriously Alice? A full summer break and you can't even go one day without fighting someone?" Angela moaned.

"A full summer break and you still can't land without crashing?" Alice responded.

"Hey!" Angela said; giving angry frown that looked more adorable than threatening.

Right after Alice's insult, Constance got in-between her and Angela. "My apologies Miss Angela. I tried to stop her, but you know how she gets." Constance apologized.

"You don't have to apologize for her behavior, let's just hurry this up so I can get something to eat." Angela said. "So Alice, are you going to request another handicap?"

"Of course! Wouldn't be fair without one." She responded. "I'll take these two punks out without a single shot from Clancy!"

"That's not my name and you know it." Clancy-I mean Constance replied.

"Ha! You really think you can take us on without firing?!" The enemy Meister questioned.

"You have a point, that ain't enough." Alice boasted. "I know! Clancy, tie my left hand behind my back!"

"If you insist…" Constance said, pulling out a small piece of rope to do so.

"Ok then, are you ready yet?" Angela asked impatiently.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Alice answered as she adjusted her tied arm. "You ready Clancy?"

"Try to beat them quickly; I don't want this to ruin our schedule." He sighed, grabbing her untied hand.

"…So are you going to transform?" Angela questioned.

"As soon as you say go. Ima' take these suckers out quick-draw style!" Alice replied.

"Heh, not only are you limiting your ammo and limb usage, but now you're giving us a head start? Your own mother won't be able to recognize you when I'm done!" Her adversary replied.

"Ok! I hereby approve this battle! Start on three!" Angela yelled out, backing away from in-between the students. "Three…Two…One…GO!"

As soon as she said go Constance started transforming as their adversaries dashed towards them. They moved so fast Clyde saw the opponents getting hit back before he saw Constance's weapon form. Constance was a slim, single barreled shotgun with relatively thick stock and fore-end. Oddly enough, the first thing Alice did after hitting her opponents away from her was run towards them. As she was running the two enemies got back up and ran forwards again. As they were running towards each other Alice threw Constance into the air. Assuming that Alice lost her grip on him, the enemy tried to slash at Alice's face. Alice somehow blocked it with her wrist and lash at her opponent's grip using her fingers. This caused the opponent to 'toss' his weapon partner to the side, leaving him unarmed. As soon as she did that she caught Constance by the barrel and slammed her opponent across the face with Constance's stock. Her impact was so strong it sent her opponent flying a few feet. Her opponent's Weapon transformed back into its human form and rushed to see if its Meister was all right.

"Is it already over?" Angela asked.

"When I told you to finish them fast, I didn't mean that fast." Constance said as he changed back into human form and started untying Alice's other hand.

"Aww… does the little guy have an owie?" Alice mockingly asked. "After all that trash talking you couldn't even land one scratch on me. Pathetic!"

"But didn't he slash at your wrist? How are you not bleeding?" Angela questioned.

Alice turned around after stretching her arm a bit. "Because of these two boys." She said as she pulled up her sleeves, revealing a steel wrist guard on each. "Now I'm bored. Let's go Clancy." She left with Clancy walking next to her.

"The winners are Alice and Constance!" Angela exclaimed. "Could someone go get Miss Marie to help these two?" She then casually got back on her broomstick and flew back into the sky.

As the students in the circle started leaving, Clyde walked back to Terry. "…so how did the fight play out?" She asked him.

"It was over before it even begun." Clyde answered. "Lunch is almost over, it would be best to start heading to our next class."

The walk there was quiet, with both sides out of topics to discuss. The bell rung while they were halfway to their class. Like the previous two times they were able to get there before the crowd of students. As they walked in they saw their Teacher scrambling to get the room set up on time, muttering something about schedule changes. He seemed to be similar in age to Stein and was wearing formal black clothing with a cross shaped tie. His skin was fair, his eyes were teal, and his hair was fairly long and colored red. They took their seats and a few moments later the rest of the class entered and took theirs.

"Ok then…" He said to the class after finishing setting things up. "I'm sure most of you have figured this out by now, but today's classes have been shortened to make time for Lord Death to talk to all of you. You think he would have informed ME about this, but I was never told. The first day is already hectic enough without all this confusion…But there's no time for complaining, we're on a tight schedule so listen up! My name is Spirit, and this class is DWMA history. We will start with the most recent events and work our way back. Now tell me, do any of you already know anything about the Kishin?"

Clyde raised his hand to answer. "Yes you, let's see here…" Spirit glanced at his seating chart. "Clyde, what is your knowledge of the Kishin?"

"The Kishin's was named Asura." He answered. "He was one of the Great Old Ones, a group of powerful warriors that served under Lord Death during ancient times. He betrayed Lord Death when he started hunting human souls in order to gain power. Lord Death then defeated him in battle and stuffed him in a sack of his own skin, which he buried and sealed under the DWMA. Around 16 years ago he was released by the witch Medusa and started spreading his Madness through the world. He was then finally killed by a group of seven students."

"Alright, that was a bit more than I expected you to know, but good job." Spirit responded. "Our first topic of study will be those events, more specifically the seven students."

The bell rang yet again, interrupting Spirit's speech. The students left the class as their teacher started cussing out the loudspeaker. The group made their way to their final class of the day. The silence was broken by a question from Terry. "So…when you said Lord Death stuffed the Kishin in a bag of his own skin…"

"Yes, I do mean that literally. He tore the Kishin's skin clean off after draining his body of its blood." Clyde replied.

"…And the Kishin survived that?"

"Indeed he did."

"How?"

"It was due to the souls he devoured. He consumed so many that he became as strong as Death himself."

"Then why didn't Grimmy just finish him off after he put him in the bag?" Moko asked.

Clyde was unable to give an answer, but in the meantime they had gotten to their next class. However, the door was locked.

"Why the heck is the door locked?" Ariel impatiently questioned.

"Maybe our Teacher's sick." Jasmine suggested.

"No, I think they would have gotten a substitute to teach if that were the case." Terry said.

"The school doesn't have that many teachers. It's quite possible they just left the door locked." Clyde told her.

"To heck with it, I'm gonna kick the door down!" Ariel exclaimed.

"I don't think that will be necessary." Clyde told her, pointing at their teacher running down the hall. As she got closer Terry recognized her as the nurse who she met when she arrived at the school: Marie.

When she arrived she arched over and tried to catch her breath. "I'm sorry I'm late…" She muttered in between breaths. "I had to help fix up some students." She unlocked the door and turned on the lights. After the students took their seats she started with her class introduction. "My name is Marie, and I'm your Teacher for Creature Studies this year. Here you'll be learning-"

The intercom cut her off, startling her. "All students, report to the auditorium. All students, report to the auditorium."

"I really am late…" Marie said to herself. "I'll have to continue this tomorrow. Goodbye everyone."

After yet another long walk across the school, our quint arrived at the auditorium. As Clyde walked in he heard a familiar tune. Looking at the stage he saw Presley playing a song on Bass. He recognized the song as the one Presley called "Hero's Welcome", which he usually plays as a sign of respect when someone he admires arrives. After he finished the song he got up and Bass transformed back into his human form.

"Dudes, Dudettes, and little Dudes of all ages!" He yelled into the mike. "Give a warm welcome to the Grim Reaper himself, Lord Death!"

The crowd was ecstatic as Lord Death walked up to the stage. After a couple seconds of cheering, Lord Death raised his hand to quiet them down.

"Welcome students, new and old." Lord Death spoke. "You have all come far and wide to be here at the Death Weapon Meister Academy. Many you are here to better learn how to control your abilities. You are in the Normally Overcome Target courses, or NOT for short. Those of you that have come seeking battles and glory are part of the Especially Advantaged Talent courses, or EAT for short. Whatever the reason, I hope that you enjoy your stay. I understand that the school may seem strange to some, as we operate rather differently than most. Firstly, our grade levels are not based on age, but rather on the amount of years that you have been attending. So a freshmen class could have students ranging in age from preteens to young adults. Secondly, starting next week you will all be given a weekly allowance to cover your expenses including food, accommodations, recreational items, and anything else that one would need each day. If you run out of money, there are many shops around Death City that supply part time jobs for students. Lastly we have a list of tasks in the main hallway, ranging from tasks around town for NOT course students, to Kishin Egg locations for EAT course students. I hope that all of you have a great year here at our humble academy."

With that, the curtain closed on the stage. The bell had rung shortly after and Terry and Moko headed back to their dorm. However, this day is far from over. Our three new protagonists still have one last thing to do before they go home for the evening. Unfortunately, we must pause our story here. At the rate this was going it would have been far too long for a single chapter. Come back soon, you know where to find me.

Outtake:

"But didn't he slash at your wrist? How are you not bleeding?" Angela questioned.

Alice turned around after stretching her arm a bit. "Let's just say…" She pulled down her sleeves to reveal two steel wrist guards. "I got a few tricks up my sleeve!"

"…"

"…Get it?"

"…"

"…Because I have guards under my-"

"WE KNOW." Constance responded bluntly.

"Well I thought it was funny." Alice said as she walked off.


End file.
